Zoe Lancaster felt so ashamed and indignant she could barely stand it. Simon Hawthorne was usually so aloof and commanding that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him utterly unattainable. Yet, in private, he would actually say such dirty things...
She inevitably found it hard to fend him off.
Her arms, which had been pushing against him, grew soft and weak. She tried to suppress the shivers and numb, breathless moans brought on by his wanton kisses, but her plump lips were forced apart. He chuckled softly. "What are you holding back for?"
His husky voice was like an aphrodisiac poison.
A chill washed over her chest before it was enveloped by his dry, scalding palm. He kneaded her curves wantonly, plunging her into a dizzying sensation of ice and fire. Tilting her neck back, Zoe’s reason gradually returned. She hurriedly grabbed Simon’s hand, which had already reached the edge of her panties, and panted, "My... my period is here!"
She didn’t dare to indulge him any further.
Her heart hammered like a drum. At that moment, she felt the hand pressing against the back of her thigh tighten. The tender, fair flesh of her thigh was squeezed slightly out of shape, leaving clear finger marks. It was ambiguous, thrilling, and thick with sexual tension.
Simon lifted his dark lashes, his black eyes capturing hers deeply. In that instant, Zoe saw a thick, undeniable, and earthly lust in the eyes of this usually unreachable man. It was a storm stirred up just for her.
Obviously, her words were a massive buzzkill. Zoe assumed they would probably part on bad terms again. She was practically ready to put on her clothes and get the hell out of there. But...
He released her thigh, and his scorching hand grasped her wrist. "We don’t necessarily have to use that part."
The next second, Zoe brushed against something. Her face suddenly burned crimson. She barely dared to look down, but the very real sensation still gave her a massive shock. She realized the man was seriously well-endowed.
"That damn girl Stella Joyce is eating so well," she thought resentfully.
"Why are you spacing out?" Simon’s voice was low. He pinched her bottom as if to punish her. "You scratched me."
Zoe closed her eyes in shame and quietly shifted to avoid scratching him with her nails again. Her breathing trembled, gradually syncing with the rhythm of his own breaths.
She found it hard to describe her feelings. Was it more nervous pleasure, or more frustrating conflict? After all, they weren’t on good terms, yet they were doing the most intimately close thing imaginable.
Zoe gritted her teeth. She decided to just treat this as buttering up her sugar daddy!
Throwing caution to the wind, she gradually took control of the rhythm, no longer needing him to guide her. Even Simon pursed his lips in unbearable pleasure, staring deeply at her flushed earlobes.
She had no idea how long the whole ordeal lasted. By the very end, Zoe was practically paralyzed from exhaustion. Sore and weak, she was carried back to the bed. She felt more tired than if she had worked three days of overtime!
Didn’t people say men had a short shelf life and peaked at twenty-five? Which bastard spread such misleading lies!
As she hovered on the edge of a drowsy slumber, the man’s low, magnetic voice drifted into her ears. "Your learning ability and comprehension in this area are surprisingly high."
Zoe’s willpower was already scattering from sheer exhaustion. She subconsciously pondered it for a moment. Was he... praising her for making him feel good? Were men really this easy to please? Defenseless, she then fell into a deep sleep.
The next day.
Zoe had a very accurate biological clock and woke up right at seven-thirty. She turned her head, only to find the space beside her completely empty.
However, a new professional suit and a new overcoat had been laid out by the bed.
She had come over on short notice yesterday and had no clothes to change into for work today. In this regard, Simon was quite thoughtful. Still, waking up to find him completely gone gave off the vibe of a guy who pulled up his pants and refused to acknowledge her. He was... such a jerk.
Zoe laughed out of anger. Forget it. She hadn’t lost out. After all, she didn’t sacrifice her actual body, but rather, she got to play with him all night. She needed to look at the bigger picture!
She only hoped that yesterday’s "buttering up" would offset some of the conflict surrounding Stella Joyce.
She took a shower, skipped her makeup, and took a taxi straight to the company.
The public relations department’s office building was not in the same location as the main Hawthorne Group tower. They were hundreds of meters apart. Going over there even required permission, and seeing Simon meant reporting up through multiple levels of management. The gap between the two of them was like heaven and earth.
Because of this, when she saw Simon surrounded by a crowd like the moon among stars in the lobby of the PR building, Zoe was somewhat surprised. "Oh, is the emperor making an incognito inspection tour?" she thought sarcastically.
Just then, Simon was being respectfully escorted to the elevator by a group of senior executives. He ended up standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder with Zoe. Yet, throughout the entire process, Simon never spared her a second glance. It was as if she truly was an insignificant stranger. No one would ever dare to imagine that they were husband and wife.
The elevator doors opened, and Simon stepped in first with his long legs. His noble, aloof aura made people feel they could only admire him from afar and didn’t dare to step out of line. Who could have guessed that during the throes of passion, the things he said would be so incredibly scorching to the ears?
The executives followed him in. Someone even found Zoe to be standing in the way and gave her a light shove. "Watch it! What are you blindly crowding around for!"
Zoe stumbled slightly and furrowed her brows. They were obviously husband and wife, yet the contrast in their treatment was so stark. Simon cast a lukewarm glance at the manager who had just spoken, his emotions unreadable. Until those doors closed, he didn’t give her a single peripheral glance.
Zoe wanted to curse at him, wondering what he was pretending for. Wasn’t he burying his face in her neck and panting just yesterday? What was the big deal!
Even so... right now, she felt exactly like a mistress who couldn’t see the light of day, used merely to vent his lust. Yesterday, they were extremely intimate; today, they were complete strangers. Only now did she understand the true reason behind their hidden marriage agreement.
Arriving at her cubicle, she found an elaborately wrapped bouquet of pink roses resting on her desk. There were exactly ninety-nine of them. Tucked inside was a card: "Whether you believe it or not, my love for you will never change! —Preston Quincy."
Zoe frowned. The colleagues next to her had already gathered around, gossiping.
"Wow, Zoe has a boyfriend? You’re so lucky!"
Summer Thorne smiled brightly. "Zoe, when are you going to let us see how outstanding the man who swept you off your feet is!"
Zoe twitched the corner of her mouth. She actually didn’t like Preston doing this, but she had to deal with the situation. "It’s no one. You guys misunderstood."
A colleague teased, "We all saw that he said he’ll love you forever. Zoe, who exactly is your boyfriend? Is he in the finance circle?"
Zoe looked at the roses in her arms with a mounting headache. "I really don’t—"
"Mr. Hawthorne, right this way, please." A voice drifted in from outside the door.
Zoe immediately looked up. She happened to see Simon’s superior, unignorable figure passing by the glass door. He cast a nonchalant glance her way, his eyes locking onto hers through the crowd.
In that instant, the roses in her arms felt like a hot potato.
Simon didn’t stop walking and quickly left. But Zoe had an inexplicable intuition: he had heard them.
Because of Mr. Hawthorne’s grand arrival, her colleagues instantly threw the matter of Zoe’s boyfriend to the back of their minds. Each of them stared in the direction Simon had left, buzzing with excitement and undisguised adoration.
"Oh my god, seeing him up close like this, Mr. Hawthorne is so handsome it makes my legs go weak! How can someone be born so perfect in every single aspect!"
"Right? With his looks, aura, and height, wouldn’t he easily crush anyone in the entertainment industry?"
"But he’s already taken. I heard that Stella Joyce has a very deep relationship with our Mr. Hawthorne. My heart is broken."
As they spoke, someone suddenly turned to look at Zoe, whose expression had visibly soured.
"Zoe, weren’t you in charge of Stella Joyce at the annual gala? Did you hear her say anything about her romantic situation with our Mr. Hawthorne? Are they super sweet together?"